We are concerned that our readers have become complacent due to our insistence on reporting actual news and previewing events that will actually occur. Maybe it’s time to include alternative facts as well as truth in our pages. With this edition, The Swarthmorean ventures into the murky world of fake news, presenting a couple of stories that aren’t true, but maybe could be.
All tagged 2019/03
We are writing a community-generated story and we are looking for your help. If your family has ever received a free Arbor Day sapling from the Scott Arboretum, whether through Swarthmore-Rutledge School or by attending Scott Arboretum’s Arbor Day festivities, we would like to hear your stories and see some photos. Think back through the years!
The Swarthmorean, which at 126 years old is among the longest publishing Pennsylvania newspapers, has been sold again, following a change of ownership at the beginning of this year. This time the buyer is Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and reputedly the richest man in the world. The Swarthmorean joins the Washington Post among Bezos’s newspaper holdings.
Suburban Sunday: A Day of Vigorous Relaxation
With apologies to the New York Times column, “Sunday Routine”…which is a version of a London Times Magazine feature called “A Life in the Day”… which was no doubt a nod to the Beatles song “A Day in the Life.” Other than that, the idea is completely original.
Beatles Reunion in Swarthmore?
Could Swarthmore, the site of historic early shows by such rock greats as Bruce Springsteen, the Allman Brothers, and Nirvana, add another page to its musical history?
Return to the Old Stomping Ground
On Sunday, April 7, New Yorker David Ostwald sweeps into his old hometown with the six-piece band that he fronts in a steady Wednesday night gig at the legendary jazz club Birdland in Midtown Manhattan. Beginning at 2 p.m., David Ostwald’s Louis Armstrong Eternity Band will celebrate and expatiate on traditional jazz at its Tri-State Jazz Society appearance at Community Arts Center in Wallingford.
An unnamed researcher recently turned up a hitherto unknown document pertaining to the so-called Biddle Tract in Swarthmore. The document may sow further confusion regarding the restrictions on development of commercial new cell properties in the heart of Swarthmore‘s commercial district.
Pizza is Primo; French Class Is Toast
Business Administrator Martha Kew struck two positive notes for the Wallingford-Swarthmore School Board at its meeting on Monday, March 25. She first noted that student participation in breakfasts and lunches was up 3% across the district this school year — an average increase of nine breakfasts and 104 lunches per day — coinciding with the beginning of WSSD’s contract with Nutrition Group, the district’s food service provider, whose contract is due for renewal. She takes this to signify student approval of the new food, and has additionally heard positive feedback from both students and staff. In particular, she has received “Numerous compliments regarding the [new] pizza.”
New Phillies superstar Bryce Harper reportedly was seen browsing a Swarthmore College course catalog on his phone in the Phillies clubhouse this spring. Could he be planning a return to academia after just one year at a Nevada junior college at age 17?
Media Rolls Out the Red Carpet at 12th Annual Film Festival
The 2019 Media Film Festival will once again take the stage at the historic Media Theatre on April 4-6 for a three day showcase of short films. The Aruffo-Rim jury awards will be presented on Saturday night, along with over $1,000 in cash prizes. The ceremony culminates in the presentation of the grand prize, the coveted Golden Trolley.
Grand Slam for Rutledge Girls Club
Wow! More than 140 friends, family, and supporters of the Rutledge Girls Club attended the Second Annual Beef and Beer Event on Friday, March 15. It was a fun, filling, and very successful fundraising event for the non-profit Girls Club, which supports five age-based softball teams for area girls from five though 15 years old.
Growing Up Only in Swarthmore
Is it possible to time travel back to the Swarthmore of yesteryear, when British children were shipped here to attend school, when a dog named after Wendell Wilkie acknowledged every passerby at Shirer’s pharmacy, when you paid a nickel to have your shoes shined at a Park Avenue shop?
Imagining a New Life: FPS Shares Art Among Friends
Under way for more than a year at Swarthmore College, the Friends, Peace and Sanctuary project is about to roll out to a wider world with three public events. The seed of the program was sown in the Swarthmore’s libraries. College Librarian Peggy Seiden was thinking about the Swarthmore Peace Library’s Trocmé Collection, and perceived connections between the international refugee crisis of the past decades and the Jewish diaspora chronicled in the papers of Christian minister Andre Trocmé and his wife Magda (who protected French Jews during World War II).
Swarthmore Business News
You’re in good hands: Megan Gaardsmoe just opened a new agency for Allstate Insurance at 11 Park Avenue, where she works with daughter Sarah Kennedy and staff member Sarah Caramanico.
The Swarthmorean is looking for a reporter to regularly cover the meetings of the Wallingford-Swarthmore School Board, which are usually held on the second and fourth Monday of each month, beginning at 7 p.m. and running 30 to 60 minutes.
Board Approves Revised 2019-20 School Calendar
At its bimonthly meeting on Monday, the Wallingford-Swarthmore School Board approved a proposed calendar for the 2019-20 school year. The calendar incorporated some revisions made by the WSSD administration in response to concerns raised at the preliminary presentation at the board’s February 22 meeting.
Caregiving for a loved one or friend is serious business with serious responsibilities, but often a dearth of resources for the caregiver. Schoolhouse Center in Folsom is remedying that with a series of presentations beginning Thursday, April 4, and running alternate weeks until June 13.